Standing Committee on Planning Freight Planning Webinar Sandi Kohrs Colorado DOT Planning Director Chair, SCOP Policy Subcommittee April 26, 2012

 SCOP strategic plan includes advancing state of practice in planning  Interest from SCOP members to interface more with freight committees  Desire to improve knowledge base on freight planning studies and activities  Decision to organize webinar to reach broad audience

 First webinar goal to have speakers from key organizations address planning side of freight  Reach out to transportation planning members  Share information on current direction and on- going/future studies  Gather ideas for future webinar agendas

 Today’s speakers – Leo Penne and Chris Smith, AASHTO – Rolf Schmitt, FHWA – Dave Plazak, TRB and SHRP 2  Time for discussion of future activities or webinar topics

Freight Transportation at AASHTO Leo Penne Program Director for Intermodal and Industry Activities

SCOHT SCORT SCOWT SCITEE

 Federal Agencies – FHWA, FRA, FMCSA, MARAD, USACE, RITA, DOC  Industry Companies and Associations – AAR, ATA, AAPA, NITL, NWC, US Chamber  Research – TRB, University, Industry  State DOT Best Practices  Policy Development

AASHTO Freight Transportation Network

 Four committee web sites linked  Committee agendas, meeting proceedings  Federal legislation  Links to freight organizations and information sources  State DOT information, such as freight plans, rail plans, rail programs, short line financing

rail.transportation.org

 Professional and institutional development for state rail programs - Freight and Passenger  Webinars, information sharing, workshops, peer-to-peer, publications

 State Rail Planning Best Practices  Catalog of state short line financing programs  AASHTO-FHWA Freight Partnership Meeting  International freight scans  Reauthorization freight policy

Freight at FHWA Rolf R. Schmitt Acting Director, Office of Freight Management and Operations

 All communities depend on freight – To supply consumers – To support businesses that are the source of jobs  Most businesses generate freight and all businesses receive freight  Freight continues to grow – More tons to supply a growing population at home and abroad – More miles per ton in response to longer supply chains, just-in-time delivery, and higher valued goods

 Freight causes congestion and is disrupted by congestion  Freight contributes to energy consumption, environmental problems, and safety concerns  Freight highlights the conflict between interregional movement and local communities

 Different modes, temporal patterns, and ownership of facilities and services  Greater volatility from short term economic fluctuations and footloose industries compared to demographics of households  Greater diversity of establishments that does not average out  Greater importance of external movements relative to internal movements

 Investments to discourage businesses from moving away  Investments and improved freight operations to move external traffic with minimal harm to local communities  Opportunities for modal diversion  Trucks – Size and weight limits, routes, and local access – Parking facilities and delivery times

 Data and understanding – Freight Analysis Framework – Freight Performance Measures  Freight investment programs – TIGER, CMAQ, truck parking  Freight operations – SmartRoadside – Cross Town Improvement Project – Off Hours Delivery Program Pilot

 Research – National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) – Freight Model Improvement Program (FMIP)  Sharing experience – Peer-to-peer exchanges – NHI courses – Talking Freight Webinars – Freight plan template – Website

 To help us identify freight problems and ways to solve those problems  To try the tools and tell us how to make them better  To supplement the national picture with local detail  To experiment with improvements to freight and share results

 National Freight Program  National freight policy, performance measures, and plans at all levels  Analytical tools to support investment  Truck size and weight study

freight.dot.gov

Freight Planning at TRB David Plazak Senior Program Officer, SHRP 2

 Technical Activities – Standing Committees and Task Forces – Annual Meeting and Other More Specialized Conferences and Workshops  Cooperative Research Programs – Cooperative agreements with AASHTO and USDOT – Examples: Highway, Transit, Aviation, Freight  Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) – Limited life research program focused on rapid renewal, safety, reliability, and capacity planning – Cooperative agreement with AASHTO and FHWA

 There are many standing volunteer committees plus task forces that are temporary in nature  A few examples of those most relevant to freight planning: – Freight Transportation Data (ABJ90) – Freight Transportation Planning and Logistics (AT010) – Urban Freight Transportation (AT025) – Intermodal Freight Transportation (AT045)  Committees are where a lot of the work of TRB gets done – Committees and task forces are great opportunities for networking and learning

 Report 4, “Representing Freight in Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Models”  Report 8, “Freight-Demand Modeling to Support Public- Sector Decision Making”  Report 9, “Specifications for Freight Transportation Data Architecture”  Report 10, “Performance Measures for Freight Transportation”  Report 11, “Identification and Evaluation of Freight Demand Factors”  Report 13, “Economic and Transportation Drivers for Siting Freight Intermodal and Warehouse Distribution Facilities”  Report 14, “Understanding Urban Goods Movements”  Report 16, “Preserving and Protecting Freight Infrastructure and Routes”

 NCFRP-20, “Guidebook for Developing Sub-national Commodity Flow Data”  NCFRP-25, “Freight Trip Generation and Land Use”  NCFRP-26, “Freight Transportation Cost Data Elements”  NCFRP-30, “Web-Based Screening Tool for Shared-Use Rail Corridors”  NCFRP-31, “Guidebook for Sharing Freight Transportation Data”  NCFRP-32, “Impact of Smart Growth on Metropolitan Goods Movement“  NCFRP-38, “Improving Freight System Performance in Metropolitan Areas”  NCFRP-39, “Making Trucks Count: Innovative Strategies for Obtaining Comprehensive Truck Activity Data”

 Completed Projects (In Publication Process) – SHRP 2 C20, “Freight Demand Modeling and Data Improvement Strategic Plan” – What needs to be done to improve freight demand modeling, freight data, and visualization for freight?  Research In Progress (Completion Mid-2012) – SHRP 2 C15, “Integrating Freight Considerations into Collaborative Decision-Making for Additions to Highway Capacity” – How can DOTs and MPOs better involve private sector freight stakeholders?  Future Projects (RFP July 2012; Fall 2013 Event) – SHRP 2 C43, “Second Symposium on Improving Freight Demand Modeling and Data” – Initial symposium held in Fall 2010 as part of C20 project. – Papers available at

 HMCRP Report 3, “Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Data and Analysis”  Invitational Workshop, “Measuring the Transportation System from a Supply Chain Perspective”, July 2012, Irvine, CA  Past Invitational Workshop, “Strategies for Meeting Critical Data Needs for Decision Making in State and Metropolitan Transportation Agencies”, December 2011, Irvine, CA (proceedings being prepared)

Discussion Everyone

 Have speakers from key organizations address planning side of freight  Reach out to transportation planning members  Share information on current direction and on-going/future studies  Gather ideas for future webinar agendas

 Integrating freight transportation into state DOT core functions  Carrying out multi-state corridor programs  Linking successfully with private sector  Doing cross-modal planning and investment analysis  Bridging local, state, regional, national analysis, planning, investment, operations  Implementing reauthorization